KUCHING – As part of its commitment to deliver impactful research to the communities and industries, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus has entered into research partnerships with three organisations on 14 April, 2015.

The three are Sarawak Forestry Corporation Sdn Bhd (SFC), Sarawak Timber Association (STA) and Daitoku Sdn Bhd.

The Australian university branch campus and the SFC signed a memorandum of understanding for a research project to formulate growth-enhancing microbial fertilizer for forest plantation particularly for the Kelampayan (Neolamarckia cadamba) and Eucalyptus pellita trees.

The STA, which will provide RM580,000 for the three-year research project, formalised the funding through a memorandum of agreement with Swinburne Sarawak.

The research concerns replantation efforts that have been hampered by among others, fungal diseases, insect infestation and difficulty in applying effective fertilizer, and will be carried out in close collaboration with SFC.

STA is an association of over 600 member companies involved in the timber trade and industry. Its roles and functions include providing technical and research support to member companies, and through its R&D Financial Contributions Scheme, to promote education, training, and scientific research to the timber and forestry related industries.

Swinburne Sarawak researchers have formulated a plan with the STA and the SFC to address these issues through the cultivation of naturally occurring microbes to provide nutrients and resistance to disease for young trees.

The memorandum of agreement between Swinburne Sarawak and Daitoku looks into the development of sustainable bio-fertilizer from oil palm biomass wastes.

Last year, the university signed a MoU with the company to jointly explore developing natural bio-fertilizer from oil palm wastes. The research team will now assess the effectiveness of these formulations with the aim to substitute chemical fertilizer with an environmentally friendly, natural alternative.

The MoA signed today will provide the research team with support towards their work.

“The signing of the three research agreements today show the maturity of Swinburne Sarawak’s research efforts, and that we are making a real statement about the potential of the state of Sarawak for world class research here at Swinburne Sarawak,” said Swinburne Sarawak Deputy Vice-Chancellor and CEO Professor Anthony Cahalan in his address.

Senior officers from the three organisations were signatories to the memorandums while Cahalan signed for the university.

Mersal bin Abang Rosli, who is on the Swinburne Sarawak Board of Directors and also the Principal Assistant Director (Investment and Property) at Yayasan Sarawak, witnessed the formalization of the memorandums.

Earlier, Mersal launched the university’s Science Postgraduate Centre, dedicated to accommodate the growing number of science postgraduate students on the campus. It will provide students, research partners and academics with an avenue to work and interact effectively.